Rather than digging a tunnel, which was always going to be very expensive, and all the more so because of the extensive archaeological work that will need to be done, I've never understood why they don't just re-route the A303 a mile or so away around to the North and screen it with trees. It could be dual-carriageway and although longer would still be cheaper than a tunnel.

Mind you the announcement does rather smell of pre-election spin - I'll believe it will actually go ahead only when the bulldozers arrive.

I'm not sure re-routing would be much cheaper or less intrusive, every inch of the road would have to be subject to full archaeological investigation given the extent of the prehistoric landscape and that's expensive alone never mind the implications if it turns up anything important which is highly probable. Durrington Walls is about 2 miles away and there would be a real stushie if a new road were to be built between the two, connected, sites. The cursus is also more than a mile to north and so shouldn't be disconnected. Then there's a whole stack of other stuff that forms an integrated ritual landscape.

A tunnel really seems like the best option, only the entrances would need that degree of care, the bulk of construction would be too deep to be damaging, Is it chalk down there? That's reasonable easy to tunnel through, isn't it?

You say the construction would be too deep to be damaging ... so the preferred plan is to bore the tunnel rather than a cut and cover job? I thought a covered trench would be cheaper, but if as you say the archaelogical work is a very significant cost of the whole project, I can see that probably isn't so. I think it's chalk there which is eminently suitable for boring. At least a tunnel will also stop the traffic slowing down while people look at the stones ... and shunt the car in front!

But then the discussion about the A303 has been going on for some 40 years now, so don't hold your breath.

No, it's definite. They're going to spend £15 billion on the road network here in the UK and the Stonehenge Tunnel is part of the plan. We're such a crowded little island - congestion everywhere. Friday night on the A303 is awful. (All those Londoners coming down to their second homes in the south-west).

I hope they mend the pothole down our lane too.

Again, don't hold your breath - that's another sum Davieboy and his pet biscuit are planning to spend with no indication of how they are going to empty our pockets to pay for it. If they manage to con the electors into giving them another quinquennium, it will probably be discovered that the piggybank is still empty, and the whole lot will have to be  ... delayed. Indefinitely.

In the last couple of days my closest city and my university town has been made a City of Literature by Unesco. 

Dunedin was one of the four newly designated Cities of Literature - the others were Grenada, Spain; Heidelberg, Germany; and Prague, Czech Republic, the news report said, and they join existing Cities of Literature Edinburgh - Melbourne, Iowa City, Dublin, Reykjavik, Norwich and Krakow. I think I read the others supported Dunedin's bid with the exception of Krakow (we don't have enough connections with Krakow apparently).  Edinburgh is a sister city of Dunedin so Dunedin was pleased with its support (but wouldn't it have been odd if a sister city didn't support you?).  I don't what the criteria is for deciding to try for this honour (and people aren't mentioning the cost of it) or what is judged to be the deciding factors.

I gather it is expected to mean we have more literary conferences and visiting authors etc.  Better news than the normal bickering over the cost of the covered sports spadium (which our family is very happy with but (a) we don't pay rates in Dunedin and (b) we can afford rates more than some people), and reports over whatever business has left town leaving 400 people out of work.

Don't get too excited, Caro. Glasgow was designated an UNESCO City of Music in 2008 and, according to those in the know, any discernible effect has been minimal at best. 
Looks good on the PR material though.

And just imagine all the expense paid meetings for puffed up people to come up with these daft definitions. 'High Level Nonsense Jollies'   grate on one's credulity. A local town is huffing on about an award for a small green patch that in fact they subcontracted out to keep in good nick - and the chap who does it also works for me. No one had told him of their award until I handed him a local rag. The Judging group had had, of course several days of site visits and lunches before   'We all pat the winning dogs.' I don't think it means much at all, Caro but it will be milked for more than it is worth.

Delighted to read that the broadcasters' political debate is in a mess because more parties want a voice in a TV debate. And why not? broadcasters appear to think that they are the sole voice of democracy - without always being very democratic themselves, of course. Their dictate is being challenged for a change......... heads will roll  if they are thwarted, of course.

I'd suggest that the DUP at least have a fair claim to be included if Greens, PC, SNP & Farrago's lot are going to be included.

Post deleted.

Nothing else to rave about but that feel good feeling when Spring kicks in; daffs everywhere. primroses under fruit tress and squirrel planted crocuses coming up in daft places - such as the middle of paths. Like it or not, one can   understand why religion is closely tied into the natural calendar. Where would merchandising be without it? I wonder if life on  the equator with no seasons is a tad bland?

I have just deleted my post that came before yours, Priscilla. Mine looked so horribly vulgar beside - or above rather - your words about Spring, primroses and daffodils.

I am having a wall built. The chap said he would come this morning at 8.00am to begin work.

I expected him to turn up probably Wednesday at around 11.30am - if I was lucky.

But no, at one minute to eight this Monday morning, there he was at the bottom of my garden beavering away.

I am very happy. (Or so far I am - I've said I want the wall to look as if it was built a hundred and fifty years ago - that instuction could easily be misinterpreted.)

An authentic "old" wall, but not what I meant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9d72n2fX6g

I hope that helps.

Priscilla wrote:

Nothing else to rave about but that feel good feeling when Spring kicks in; daffs everywhere. primroses under fruit tress and squirrel planted crocuses coming up in daft places - such as the middle of paths. Like it or not, one can   understand why religion is closely tied into the natural calendar. Where would merchandising be without it? I wonder if life on  the equator with no seasons is a tad bland?

“Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.”
― Dorothy Parker

Sorry, P. Couldn't resist.

That brought back memories, Gil. But mine is to be a nice stone wall, not brick. Although old bricks are lovely.

We were going to see the other Gil - D. Gilmour - but all the gigs sold out before we could get tickets. Naus.

Not sure when this was taken......at least 1 year ago.

The Northern Lights above the Standing stones at Callanish on the Isle of Lewis;

A little rave from me about Lord Mallard. This title (see below) was given to the famous Greek scholar Dr West in 2001. Dr West was at a bit of a do this week held at Windsor Castle: a luncheon party hosted by Her Majesty the Queen for distinguished members of "the most exclusive club in the world" - holders of the Order of Merit. Here they all are:




Dr Martin Litchfield West is number one on the pic.

Dr West, 77, is one of our most distinguished classicists. Peers called him ‘on any reckoning, the most brilliant and productive Greek scholar of his generation, not just in the UK, but worldwide’.

An Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, in 2001 he acted as ‘Lord Mallard’ in a bizarre ritual in which he was carried around in a chair in search of a giant duck that, according to legend, flew out of the college foundations in 1437.

More info on the duck thing here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1314859/Mallard-leads-Oxford-fellows-a-merry-dance.html


The bizarre ritual of "hunting the mallard" occurs once every 100 years at All Souls College in commemoration of the chase after a huge wild duck which flew from a drain during 15th-century building works. Archbishop Henry Chichele, who established All Souls in 1438, is said to have had a premonition about the duck in a dream. This rowdy, torchlit event is, however, no undergraduate prank.


All Souls has no undergraduates and its fellows are considered to be among the finest minds in the world. Leading the midnight procession, carried high on a sedan chair, was Dr Martin West, a classics don and current holder of the office of Lord Mallard.


The last Lord Mallard to lead a "hunt" was Cosmo Gordon Lang, who held the unofficial title in 1901 and later became Archbishop of Canterbury. Behind Dr West, fortified by the Mallard Feast and dressed in black tie and gowns, marched the other fellows of the college.


Among those expected to participate were William Waldegrave and John Redwood, members of the last Conservative Cabinet, and Lord Neill of Bladen, former chairman of the committee for standards in public life and once warden of All Souls.

I love it.

All very distinguished in their fields but, is Betty the hoofer really the only person without a Y chromosome worthy of inclusion in their ranks?

What's more, there's never been a Lady Mallard (in her own right), although women are now allowed to march about with the Fellows and sing the Mallard song.


The Guardian article is more informative than the Telegraph:


http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/jan/12/highereducation.donaldmacleod


Under Cromwell's rule it was reported that the Mallard song was sung "after a rude manner about 2 or 3 in ye morning, which giving great alarm to ye Oliverian soldiery then in Oxon they would have forced ye gate open to have appeased ye noise."

The procession lapsed in the 18th century but was revived in 1801 to celebrate the new century and the event was repeated on 14th January 1901. On that occasion Cosmo Gordon Lang, the future archbishop of Canterbury, was Lord Mallard.

The procession is centennial but the song itself which dates from about 1660 and is still sung twice a year. It starts: The Griffine, Bustard, Turkey & Capon Lett other hungry Mortalls gape on And on theire bones with Stomacks fall hard, But lett Allsouls' Men have ye Mallard. Hough the bloud of King Edward, by ye bloud of King Edward, It was a swapping, swapping mallard!

One verse was "expunged on grounds of decency in 1821". Hee was swapping all from bill to eye, Hee was swapping all from wing to Thigh; His swapping tool of Generation oute swapped all ye wingged Nation.  

Mallard drakes are a nasty bunch of violent sexual predators. Delicious roasted though.

Just returned from Oslo, leaving it much as I found it  apart from a few Norwegians nonplussed by my trivia littered conversation. Road tunnels were disorientating but great for getting about the scattering of parts around really great sailing water. Little wonder our dictator is settled there; lucky guy. There was disappointment in the my revealing a recent research that there are fewer Viking  genes lurking in the British DNA pool than was expected. Discussion based on this took an earthy turn.

Hurrah! Philae's awake!

Waiting for the third one

First :- Had the timing belt of my car replaced Tuesday. Wednesday I was supposed to go for my first training session as a guard on the WLLR (Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway). Got about 5 miles, engine noisy as all get out (had been like that from garage), then engine management warning came on. Called out RAC, took a quick listen & told me "timing belt not properly aligned". Towed car back to garage again, they claim "keyway worn so belt lost alignment". Don't altogether believe it - more likely they didn't put it on correctly I think.

Second :- Cooking dinner and unused ring melted, fusing cooker circuit. Girl Siduri does not want ceramic hob, and most cookers too wide for space occupied by old one. Suitable ones have lousy reviews.

Possible 3rd :- Power cut (no discernible reason) for couple hours yesterday. Not sure if eggs in incubator will have stood up to it. Worried too about incubator - heated by 60 watt incandescent bulb and had no spare. Supposed to be opal finish. Hard to get these - and p&p almost twice cost of bulb. Settled bulbs from pound shop. 3 for a quid, clear not opal, rather than best part of 3 squid plus over a fiver to send the thing. Also top of incy says "max 35 watts", inside and instructions say 60 watts. Eh?

Gil, have you got your Rants and Raves in a twist? Anyway, we are all worried about whether or not your chicks will hatch or hardboil.saute. My cooker has never suffered ring melt - we have only managed charred pan bottoms. I guess we'll get there eventually.

Oh delight! It is 20C today and the gas fire man who was asked to come so long ago I'd forgotten,  arrived and now we  can use the gas fire.

Priscilla wrote:

Gil, have you got your Rants and Raves in a twist? Anyway, we are all worried about whether or not your chicks will hatch or hardboil.saute. My cooker has never suffered ring melt - we have only managed charred pan bottoms. I guess we'll get there eventually.

Indubitably I am, P, being both bitter and twisted at the moment.
The Gas Man Cameth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyeMFSzPgGc

(we have A Service Agreement with them), took one look, decided that as we have wire fuses not trips there was asbestos in there and therefore a replacement cooker was The Only Way. The Gasman Wenteth without even tearing out all the skirting boards. So the Sumerian demigod
a) replaced the wire fuse, risking a 3" long piece of asbestos cloth which he did not need to touch, inhale, ingest, or otherwise interfere with
b) removed the offending ring
c) cut off the wires to said offending ring
d) switched on and, mirabile dictu,the remainder of the cooker works as well as a 30+ year old cooker can be expected to work. That is, the top oven never gets above 100C, the main oven door periodically will not close, the hob light neither hobs nor lights, and the timer is defunct. Still need a new one.

ps - we've had a ring fuse across before, blew the bottom out of the biggest saucepan. Lukily, in those dim and distant days Prestige's "lifetime guarantee" meant just that and we got a new one free.

What of the chicks? Hard boiled? Fried? Hatched? And willl the demigod keep the old wrecked cooker as his and get Ur a new one?

Priscilla wrote:

What of the chicks? Hard boiled? Fried? Hatched? And willl the demigod keep the old wrecked cooker as his and get Ur a new one?

Chicks not due to hatch for a week yet. As soon as the Girl Siduri decides which kind of altar upon which your correspondent will be permitted to create burnt offerings to Shamash, Enki, Ishtar and the other gods, it will be provided.

Chicks have hatched - 3 yellow fluffy ones, two black and brown even fluffier ones, one did not survive the stress of breaking out of its shell, and four eggs never developed. Got the 3rd misfortune though - just outside Welshpool, the clutch pedal descended to the floor and lay there grinning sardonically. Racman fitted new cable, but bore off all my available liquid assets. Bu993r!

Nothing to rave about since April? Tough. Well, I enjoyed the Ashes win - and series so far, no end.

Enough cricket stats in there to satisfy data-nerds and to pad out commentators ramble. What a blessing replays are - and for review decisions. Football would benefit from that - is it used in baseball?

Yes I enjoyed it too P.  Can you imagine managers having two reviews - and being the one who had dived without contact causing Sir AF or similar lose a review!

Two reviews BY managers, or OF managers? Doubt if many of the idiots I have suffered under would get "umpires call" - back to the rabbit hutch at the first opportunity!

If you mean soccer managers - surely the 4th Official should have TV reviews and should tell the Ref when he/she has bo99ed it up?

Sorry I was unclear as usual - I was thinking of Jose Mourinho or Sir Alex being able to request a review to the third referee for a penalty/non-penalty/red card decision up to two per match rather than ranting on the sidelines.

But what of the flow of the game? Cricket has so many natural breaks where football doesn't. Reviews  used just after half time with penalty shots corners or cards awarded for the unpunished might be salutory - with big screen showing of the offense. A limit on number of protests allowed would bring about all manner of naughty things when a quota is used up. Stock piling unpunished fouls for half time and after final whistle might concentrate a few minds.  Quite exciting, in fact - especially if results are turned round.

I was thinking more of dubious bookings, "Ukranian Linesman" goals etc rather than inplay. Should soccer adopt the Rugby ruling on "not back 10 yards - kick moves 10 yards towards goal" - (could be upfield or infield at side taking kicks choice) and throw-ins forward of point ball went out - throw goes to other side.

What about time out sin bins that an off pitch ref could order for unpunished fouling? Several sports use this to keep flow going. Well I was thinking of ice hockey  that is so fast I have no idea what is happening.
This you understand is from a person who has several minutes of video that she filmed of paper rubbish blowing about a polo field with shots then of players charging in other directions  being more sure of which was the ball. Fouling on a polo field though is somewhat more obvious. Though the horse never interfere as elephants do when playing jumbo polo by kicking or picking up the ball themselves. I think they have a sense of humour.

I think soccer should have a sinbin so that lesser fouls can be punished without the team being without a player for the whole game, as they do in rugby. 

I will do a little rave here about our rugby captain Richie McCaw who has now played more international rugby games than any other player (overtaking Brian O'Driscoll with 142 games).  He is close to revered in NZ (though not by my husband who thinks he is overrated).  A whole swag of our senior players have played probably their last game in NZ and will play in the World Cup this year and then head to richer easier pastures elsewhere.

I have to share this with you all because I've no-one else to tell....

I went down to the town today to do some shopping, and directly on entering the little supermarket the lady at the till beckoned me over and said:
"The storks are on the abbey!"
I was completely non-plussed ... was this some sort of Cold War spy code, perhaps?
"What? What storks? Where?"
And she nodded towards the door of the shop which faces onto a small square surrounded by old stone houses, with the huge bulk of the ancient abbey rising above all just opposite.

And there on the abbey roof, on top of every tower, turret, pinnacle, gargoyle, nob, finial and buttress ... was a stork, all standing stiffly erect in their white and black plummage, like a regiment of grenadier guardsmen. For once I wish I had a mobile phone so I could have taken a photo. There were about thirty birds on the abbey roof itself, but once I'd finished my shopping, they'd all taken off and there were about sixty or so circling above the town using the updraughts off the abbey rooves to gain height, while they waited for stragglers to come in from elsewhere around town.

It was very impressive - storks are big impressive birds ... and quite unusual too. Storks usually fly over the region at very high altitude (to get over the mountains) and don't usually stop here at all on their Autumn migration. And their arrival here in August seems to me very early: they must have left their north European/Baltic summer breeding grounds at least a week ago. Traditionally it is said that if a stork chooses to rest on your house or village it imparts good fortune. A flock of sixty or so must therefore impart quite a lot of bonheur, but I can't help thinking it means there's a severe winter coming if they're migrating south so soon.

MM wrote:

And their arrival here in August seems to me very early: they must have left their north European/Baltic summer breeding grounds at least a week ago. Traditionally it is said that if a stork chooses to rest on your house or village it imparts good fortune. A flock of sixty or so must therefore impart quite a lot of bonheur, but I can't help thinking it means there's a severe winter coming if they're migrating south so soon.

All the swallows and house martins have packed up and left (their departure always makes me sad), and there are loads of berries everywhere. Both the birds' early leaving and the abundance of hedgerow fruit would indicate winter's coming early - and a severe one at that. It's really cold here for early September - a chill north wind which is most unusual. Not a mellow and golden September at all. I am going to dig out my woolly tights and switch on the central heating.

I should have loved to have seen the storks, MM. What a pity you could not take a photo.

Loads of wild hedgerow berry fruits here too this year ... I'm making rosehip and crab-apple jelly this afternoon. And there's a abundance of sloes on the little clump where I usually get most of mine. They're not ripe yet but should give plenty of sloe gin, if only someone else doesn't get there first.

I wish I had a photo of the storks ... I'll ask around in the village, the lady on the till who drew my attention to them might well have taken a pic, or know someone who did.

A harsh winter a-coming? Hmmm ... I think I need to check over my emergency generator, and make sure I've got stocks of petrol and kerosine. And candles. Although last winter was so mild I'm well stocked with firewood ... there's about 8 stères (cubic metres) cut and dry by the back door, with another 2 stère cut last February and so nearly dry.

In the Himalayan foothills  forest spot that I borrowed whenever possible, each dwelling was allowed one head load of forest wood per day. Foraging went on until the heavy snows came  but we found that even in summer a roaring fire was necessary and even then one's back froze. Locals went to bed earlier. Our head load was brought in by the bungalow chaukidar; his wife brought in theirs. No one seemed to out without an axe - a vital tool as ferv mentioned in the tools thread. There is always assorted hungry livestock about those parts also. Not that it might deter leopards and bears - or cobra, come to that so perhaps it was for people. I must stop there. I shall never again hear the forest echo of axe cutting, the calls of birds I never saw but whose calls I know so well nor sit through a sudden dense chilling  cloud chasing up the gullies to the distant sound of a mournful piper tending livestock somewhere in the hills.
So, MM, the thrill of seeing the storks will stay long - forget the pic. I rarely take them of things that I want to savour long.

Been out blackberrying with the girl Siduri today - used to get loads from the common behind my grandparents when I was young, she lived on the farm we visited today, but many of the best bushes have been killed off now - her father used to cut his hedges, the new tenant (well, newish. About 20 years) has sprayed them and was moaning that he won't be able to get the spray soon. As he leaves his beasts in the field despite the dire warnings not to that are printed on the tin, perhaps it is as well it's being withdrawn for use except by authorised contractors.

Priscilla wrote:

.... the thrill of seeing the storks will stay long - forget the pic. I rarely take them of things that I want to savour long.

Oh how true P ... before the 'selfie' and then, the 'selfie stick'... whatever did we do?

I'm fortunate in that I regularly see squirrels, badgers, deer, foxes ... even eagles and vultures quite often, and sometimes, although more rarely, beech martins and even lynx.

But I reckon it is always a good experience, perhaps for not every day but at least from time to time, to meet a truly wild animal that is quite big enough, and fully capable, of taking you on ...one to one! The wiley old wild boars here can easily get to over 80 kg in weight and are not afraid of very much except a hunter with a rifle. But frankly unless they're directly hassled, they, like me, generally prefer to just pass quietly by with maybe just a knowing nod and grunt of mutual respect.

But once in the Pindus mountains of northern Greece (on the eastern side of the Vikos gorge) ... I well remember meeting a wolf. I was prospecting for caves and potholes: he was just mooching along and doing whatever wolves do. We entered a small doline from opposite ends at the same time, we both paused and took stock, then when neither of us seemed to be either threatening nor particularly bothered (though I'll admit my heart rate was up) we regarded each other at a distance of barely 10m for about a minute, and then both slowly turned around and retreated our footsteps. As you say, P, I've always savoured that all too brief moment.

I've also encountered a bear in Slovenia, again whilst prospecting for caves, but sadly the encounter was much briefer ... the bear legged it as soon as he saw me. Man nowadays is generally recognised as the top predater and so sadly is instantly recognised as the one creature all others should flee from.

That is true, even when one has grabbed a picture it so rarely lives up to the actual experience. My only brush with large predators was from a landrover in Kenya and no photo could capture the rippling power of stalking lioness nor the emotional impact of a row of cubs of varying sizes trotting beside their mums. It seems these days that unless something is recorded, it never really happened. WW would now, in pensive mood, scroll through his photobucket account.

Talking of emotional impact though, I love elephants most of all, they make me want to cry. There's something about their dignity and the unquestionable affection that they show each other that just rips at the heart.

Despite the fine crop of berries up here, we're having a bit of an Indian summer. The day after the children went back to school in mid August, the sun came out and it has been settled and generally pleasantly warm ever since. It looks set to continue for at least a week.  This of course means lots more bloody courgettes.

My current problems are a plethora of tomatoes and cucumbers. Picked 4 of the latter on tuesday, and already 3 more are approaching full growth.
Plenty of swallows around today as we picked the blackberries, so ours haven't decamped yet. Hoping for a decent weekend - it's Welshpool Gala, and the bunkhouse is full so I'll be dossing down in the car. Not too bad really - take the girl Siduri's headrest out, wind the seat full back and slide it full forward to give a sort of couchette effect.

I've gone off Welshpool; today I read of an older man who disturbed a wasp nest and was taken to Welshpool Hospital but died of anaphylactic shock.  I have one or two phobias, and wasps are pretty to being stuck underground or inside anything.  One of my daughters-in-law was brought up quite near Welshpool.

I was going to say I wish we had a plethora of tomatoes, but we do really.  In the freezer, all right for stews and things, but no good for putting on your slice of toast.

Re the elephants, ferv, I understand the emotion. Mine is for the sadness of elephants and their lot. A few years back we spent Christmas day at the big sanctuary in Sri Lanka. Many are rescued after being almost worked to death  with drug injections. Some years back I felt ashamed to be going by elephant up the huge incline to the great palace at Jodphur - but managed to feed it with a bag of cakes before we got on. I was pleased I had because the one in front had taken a dislike to its passengers and kept bashing against the walls in such a way that the tourists had to sit with feet on the seats and shouting in alarm. This is a rant and not a rave.
I did take a movie that Christmas day of a about 30 teenage elephants deciding to break loose up a muddy bank. They slid and collapsed in what seemed to be giggling heaps time and time again but many made it through the barrier. Although they headed our way in a freedom bid, I kept on filming without feeling threatened.....daft-like. I would have moved away a damned sight faster had they been human teens on a jolly.

I like elephants most of the big animals too, especially when their babies are following them.

I am raving today because my youngest son, living in Nottingham with his wife has acquired an allotment. They've been looking for a while but there weren't many available. But they found this one, about 5 minutes drive from where they live, when a couple in their 70s with two allotments decided one was enough. It is 400 square yards! Massive. Does have a glasshouse, a shed and some apple trees, but even so...I gather they are on the younger side of the usual age for having an allotments (by about 40 years, I think!).

We don't have allowments in New Zealand, generally. Some community gardens have sprung up in recent years but anyone can plant there and anyone can pick. The one set up in our little town didn't succeed, probably because too many people have their own gardens and don't want another one. And the teacher who set it up and took responsibility for it left the district.